Aviv Moving & Storage

I’ve used Aviv for all of my moves for the last 15 years, and in general I’ve been happy and shown that through my customer loyalty, but I must say with my most recent experience, the quality of their service has suffered greatly.
Historically, I’ve been happy with their performance for the money. The movers show up on time, they’re speedy, they’re pretty careful with my furniture, and they’re cost-​effective. They’ve lightly damaged a few things, but I figure this is just what you expect when you pick one of the budget-​minded companies.
So my fifth and final move with Aviv was a long distance move out of state. They didn’t give the cheapest estimate of the movers I polled, but were definitely below the average, which was good. They showed up on time and were generally communicative when they came to pick up my stuff, and they were very efficient. I was appreciative of their work, and I took orders from them for lunch, went out and got it for them, and tipped them well at the end. I got a couple new small dings in some furniture I had made myself, which I wasn’t thrilled with, but that’s life with budget movers.
I got an estimate (a three hour window) of when they’d arrive at the new location the next day directly from the dispatcher, and that’s where the lack of professionalism really started to show.
The next day, I arrived at my new residence at the start of the window. Got the keys. All good.
A couple hours go by. No calls from the movers, no emails, no updates. I call Aviv to check in and see if everything is going according to plan. Conveniently, Aviv’s office is closed on Saturday after 1pm, so I leave a voicemail.
Another hour goes by. No calls, no emails, no response. I’ve been waiting three hours in my empty apartment. I leave another voicemail in a different mailbox. I send an email in case that’s more convenient for them to check. Now they’re late.
Three more hours go by, so I’ve been waiting for six hours with no furniture and nothing to sit down on. I call and leave an angry voicemail, followed by an angry email.
I finally get a call from the foreman on the truck. He apologizes, says they were stuck in traffic, and that they’ll be there in an hour and a half.
Two hours later, they show up, and they unload everything super fast. Took them maybe 1.5 hours total. I’d been waiting for a total of 8 hours.
The thing is, if my stuff shows up late or the next day, it’s not the worst thing in the world, but the lack of communication is a serious problem because if Aviv had just called me and said, hey, we’re going to get there five hours late or the next day, I could at least go do something productive with that time, or find a hotel room or a friend to stay with for the night since I had nothing to sleep on.
Calling someone, sending them a text, or an email saying, «Hey, I’m going to be five hours late,» just isn’t that hard and in this case would have made all the difference.
Not only that, but after leaving several voicemails and emails I still haven’t been contacted by any customer service person. They delivered my stuff, charged my credit card, and left. That was it. Radio silence.
There’s a certain level of trust and professionalism required if you’re going to be a company who packs up and moves everything someone owns, keep it overnight, and move it several hundred miles, not to mention getting paid several thousand dollars to do so.
After many other successful moves, I feel like Aviv really let me down on this one.

It is rare that a company calls to enquire as to why a customer is disappointed. Not only did Aviv call, but they wanted to hear my full assessment of the experience. Very patient and attentive team that had a contractor fail them. Appreciated the followup.

Moving sucks.
It especially sucks when you are a bit of a packrat (ITS CALLED BEING PREPARED), and live on a THIRD FLOOR CONDO. These guys showed up in their allotted time block, and when the buyer of my condo showed up to rip me a new one for taking too long, they started sprinting up and down the stairs. I had a team of 3 and they worked together great and I couldn’t be more thrilled that day is over. A grand total of 9 hours we spent together, and it was money well worth it.

slow cost a lot of time
they send three people and charge me the high price
but basically one doesn’t work, and the other two work really slow.
I even lost my stuff in this process.

I have used Aviv now for three moves, and am about to use them for my fourth. They are on time, professional, and work REALLY hard. They don’t want you to lift a finger. They will do all the wrapping for you and are really good at figuring out how to configure everything. I keep going back to them because they are efficiently, work extremely hard, and are very professional, and also very affordable. They’re also very nice; the guys working under the supervisor however tend to be quite young, they look like high school kids, sometimes even younger, and you wonder how they can handle all your stuff, but they work so hard to please, have never dropped or damaged any of my stuff, you just want to feed them and give them a break, but they always decline. I always try and tip these guys well because they really work for it.

I used these guys so long ago I almost forgot how awful they were. Since then I have used an other company that was awesome in every way. Where do I start, hmmm ok how about the booking process. They were in touch with me and answered all my questions! Moving day! Late over an hour with no call, I had a 3 man crew, I believe it was Raul, his son, and another guy. Not one could speak good English, which wouldn’t be an issue except they were soooo rude and didn’t realize I knew Spanish so I could understand all of the crude things they were saying about my family. Also I could hear them keep saying to milk the clock. So that’s why at the end I acted like I didn’t know how to tip. I had things broken. I tried calling in and wow, guess what couldn’t get a response. Surprise! Crooks, look elsewhere there are great companies out there. This isn’t one

ABSOLUTE WORST MOVING COMPANY IN HISTORY!!! One the movers used the bathroom and stole a necklace! After telling him I would not call the police if he gave it back he agreed to give it back. I’m still trying to deal with the company to get a refund and otherwise will have to call my credit card company to get a refund. DO NOT USE THESE MOVERS THEY ARE NOT TO BE TRUSTED!!!

I wish I could give negative stars… This company needs some serious work on their customer service skills and also need to train their employees better on how to NOT break things. We were moving from Boston south about 50 miles. 2 of our family members had used this company before and said everyone was OK, not amazing just OK. But their prices were cheaper…(You get what you pay for). When we booked them we explained we were closing on our house the day after they were going to move us so we needed them to come as early as they could. So they would be there by 12pm. Several days leading up to the move we called them to make sure we had enough space for our stuff, and to make sure we were still on for 12pm. They yessed us numerous times, and we explained to them that at 6pm on the day they were moving us the new buyers were doing a final walk-​through and also were bringing a final inspector through. They said we will absolutely be out of there by then no problem. The day of the move 12pm came, and they didn’t show up. We waited about 20 minutes and after that we decided to call and see their status. My wife called on her phone, spoke to a woman who said she would call the driver and see where they were and call us right back. Well 15 min went by so we called back. She did not pick up my wifes call, so she called back a few times and they would not pick up. I called from my phone and THEY PICKED UP! Literally right after, so clearly they were ignoring our calls. So imagine how we feel, were closing on a house, and the movers haven’t showed up. Mixture for disaster… They closed at 1pm, and we have noone to call. So we were left with a decision… Call another mover or wing it and wait. We finally got a call from the movers at 325pm… and they were on there way. In the mean time we had to cancel the walk-​through and got charged a $ 150 cxl fee for the inspector. Movers finally got there, moved our stuff in the biggest rush ever. We had to beg them to wrap stuff because they weren’t going to do it. Ridiculous. So the next day they came to our new house, unloaded everything and on they went. Well we began unpacking and had lots of broken stuff, of course it had to get worse. We had broken dishes, broken glasses, broken picture frames, missing hardware for a vanity, scratches on a very old nightstand and a broken vase. We were so bummed! We called them the next day, Yaniv picked up and said he would look into it and call me back by the end of the day. 5pm came, no call so I called and he said he would call me the next day. Next day came and no call, so I called and he «wasn’t there». For 4 days this happened. I eventually reported it to the BBB and it is being investigated. This company lies, they break things, and they have horrible customer service and do not care about their customers. Spend the extra money and find a company who cares about customers please!

Communication to sell me their service in the beginning was great… but then I had to chase Yaniv for follow up. The pick up in Boston by Marvin and his team was timely and professional. They were careful and wrapped everything like it was museum quality. From then on it was a DISASTER. Maybe they are better for local moves… I went from a tiny 1 bdr in Boston to Charlotte, NC on Sept 20, 2012 estimated delivery time up to 14 business days (Oct 10^th). They charge by sq foot as opposed to weight (really who is going to check?) initial estimate was a little over $ 2k but final charge came in at $ 3,323. I called 4 days before the due date and was told by Yaniv «We don’t have your truck» — Um you picked up my stuff and I don’t have it? SOMEBODY has it!!! Oh it’s in storage in Waltham, MA. Ok thanks for the clarification cause, I almost had a heart attack! Mind you Yaniv suggessted the pick up date because he anticipated coupling my shipment with another (that fell through). I would have left later in the month. So I call again on Monday (shipment was due Wed) and the woman who answered couldn’t tell me anything. Have to wait for Yaniv to call me — he didn’t. I call again the next day. He says, good news the truck LEFT the driver will be in contact with you. Not so much… more waiting. I call again. What will I be compensated each day for the tardiness? less than $ 70 per day. Dennis the driver calls Friday at 4 pm and says he may be able to deliver Sat. if not, Sunday. I said we’ll be ready. My family and I wait. I call. No response. We give up at 8 pm. He calls at 8:30 pm and wants to deliver. I have a 4 month old baby and my family had already left. Absolutely NOT. Do you think he would have put together by bed frame in the dark? Dennis and one other guy arrive Sunday morning ¹⁰⁄₁₄. Asks me for the balance in cash of $ 536 (less than I thought, I guess– because my sofa bed was not disassembled). And proceeded to hastily dump stuff in one room. Everything arrived, but EVERY piece of furniture was out of joint, chipped, fractured, loose or dinged. I found pieces to my 1940s mahogany bedroom set on the floor. Between Boston and Charlotte my stuff was THROWN around like TRASH. The guy started to dump my secretary desk upside down on the floor — as it bent he told me «It broke.» Well it was damaged but Dennis put in a couple extra screws to reinforce it to make it usable. Insurance policy is a joke. wouldn’t even cover my musical instrument. We had to watch everything and ask him to put things together, otherwise, they would have bolted to the next dump off. NEVER EVER AGAIN. Allied or United would probably be better picks for next time.

I was really happy with Aviv at first. They were one of the few companies that agreed to move us on short notice for Labor Day (one of the busiest moving days) and at a decent price. They just couldn’t deliver everything right away so it would be in storage for 7 – 14 days until they had someone to drive it to our new home. That was actually better for us, so we were still pleased.
A very friendly crew of 4 guys arrived earlier than scheduled that day. They were very fast and didn’t complain about the 4 story walk up. Aviv charges a fee for anything over the 1^st floor, so I hope they see that money because they worked hard. They didn’t take some things. I am partially to blame for not realizing what they missed until they left, but they were informed of everything to be moved when they first got there.
The big issues took place at delivery. We verified the size of the delivery truck, notification methods, and their accepted forms of payment before we booked Aviv. All seemed well.
Then, a much larger truck from a 3^rd party company arrived about 3 weeks after the move. We were told we would be called 3 – 4 days before the delivery, but I was called at 8pm the night prior to delivery. It didn’t help that I was traveling and missed the call completely. They didn’t try to call my boyfriend/​roommate who was equally involved in the correspondence with Aviv.
My boyfriend had to immediately leave work to accept the delivery, or we would have had to wait another 7 – 14 days.
Our complex could not accomodate such a massive truck, so Aviv charged us for having to park over 75ft from the apartment (again, Aviv verified the truck would not be an 18 wheeler before we booked them, but it was).
A large mirror was missing, I presume it broke, our couch was ripped and not wrapped in anything but those old used moving blankets, and several boxes developed a weird odor that I can’t identify to this day.
They did not reassemble anything, though that was part of the moving agreement. It was not an Aviv mover that came that day, so it didn’t seem appropriate to demand assembly from someone who didn’t seem to know what we were talking about. He also only took cash. All together a sketchy experience.
I was mostly disappointed with the misinformation we were given and the additional fees that kept piling up as a result. The damaged couch was also really frustrating as it was brand new.

i read a lot of reviews on movers before choosing aviv. i guess it’s hard to get a good rating as a mover. nobody gives you credit for the 476 things you delivered without a scratch, they just knock you because their ikea furniture fell apart or that item they utterly failed to wrap or pad got dinged.
shit happens when you move. try to imagine how much worse it would have been if you and your idiot friends (who you’re paying with beer) had tried to move that marble-​top coffee table or lug that triple wide oak bookcase up the spiral stairs to your 3^rd floor walk-​up. would you give yourself one star? i don’t think so.
fortunately, none of that happened with aviv moving & storage. day 1, the crew showed up on time, efficiently cleared out a storage unit and my apartment and managed, despite my severely underestimating the sheer volume of stuff i’d accumulated, to get everything into the truck. barely. when you call for the quote, tabulate how many boxes you think you’ll have, then add 25%. the crew was friendly and worked much harder than i ever personally care to. day 2, again the crew showed up on time (early, even) and the unloading was done very quickly.
while they were loading everything up, a crew member was numbering all of my boxes and items and doing a written inventory so that i’d have a checklist when they unloaded (i had 229 items). very handy.
as you may have guessed, aviv also stored our stuff for 2 nights at the very reasonable rate of $ 100/​night. day 1 we had a 4-​man crew, day 2 we had 3, so there were different hourly rates for each day. all told, however, aviv came in at less than half the minimum quote i was given by gentle giant and was one of the few movers in the area that offered the storage i needed for those 2 days.
as with all movers, they have a minimum time requirement (theirs is 3 hours; many others were 4); there is a standard travel time charge depending on where they’re going (which counts towards the minimum); there is a fuel surcharge ($ 10; i was quoted as high as $ 30 by others); and you can elect several insurance options.
long story short — moving is hell, they were good, the price was fair, and i’d use them again.

I was referred to Aviv by a friend who had an awesome experience, and I just needed to come on here and write a quick review of how awesome they were. 3 guys showed up ON TIME, quickly went through the house for direction and got to work. They were friendly, quick and very thoughtful of our items. They got us packed up, drove 20 minutes and unpacked in under 4 hours. They were right on budget for the quote that we had and were just amazing. I recommend them to EVERYONE i know that is moving!!! I’ve heard so many horror stories. I’ll never use another service.

Aviv did it again. A flawless move at a reasonable price. They even arrived on the early side of their time window, just 15 minutes past the first hour. Each piece of furniture and every single box was navigated carefully down stairs and through hallways. There was not a single scratch or scuff in sight, and all of our stuff was handled with care. These guys worked nonstop and were thoughtful about where they placed things, even taking the time to stop and ask where things went if the items weren’t labeled.
The only thing that could have possibly improved this move was if my husband and I did a better job packing, labeling, and cleaning before they arrived.

I used these guys to move one time and wished I hadnt. First of all, they showed up an hour past the time window they had given me so I sat around for 3 hours waiting for them and they showed up all sleepy with Dunkin coffee. Thanks for dragging your asses out of bed guys. There were 3 guys, one clearly knew about moving but the other two might as well have not even been there, but I paid them to be. They packed all my stuff up and I sent my parents over to the new apt to let the movers in while I quickly cleaned up y old place. I left 15 after the truck and got to my new apt 30 mins before the truck did (it was only 45 mins away…). After they unloaded, they disappeared for a solid 15 mins, but then I looked outside and they were taking photos posing in front of the truck!!! The leader came back in to get my money and although I put up a huge stink, made me pay for the time they were taking photos and denied that they were doing it at all!!! When they left I felt ripped off and pissed off. The company I used before these guys (who were booked on my move day) were much better and I will absolutely go back to them next time. Look up five stars movers. They were great. These guys… Not so much. Oh AND in the quote they gave me they didn’t include cost for getting to my old place and getting back from my new place which is WHY I picked them… Surprise!!! I called to confirm my appointment and discovered this charge days before my move. when I spoke to the owner he told me that if I didn’t like it, I should just take my business elsewhere, but it was too late for that. If I could give zero stars I would. I also witnessed them drop a piece of my furniture on the stairs. I don’t know how they get all these good ratings on here. You have been warned.

Aviv was great. They were actually recommended to me by a moving company I had used previously (which did not do cross country moves).
I underwent a cross country move at the end of the summer (apparently a more than usual expensive time to move…) and Aviv quoted me the same price I was getting from other agencies — EXCEPT the other agencies quotes were for a the end of Sept instead of the end of August which was when I needed to move and when Aviv was able to help for the same price.
They showed up on time, were polite and quick while packing truck. It took a few weeks for the furniture to arrive cross country but everyone was communicative (the truck actually got a flat on Labor Day weekend so delivery was delayed but they were in contact during the delay). When I reached out 4 months after my move needing a copy of a receipt they responded right away.
I’d recommend them!

Aviv movers did a great job moving me out of my condo in Brighton — they came on time, and charged within the estimate range (it helps to give them accurate basis for estimates). I would definitely use them again.

First, the good: The movers themselves were nice, prompt, and moved pretty quickly, though they could have probably used about half an hour or 45 minutes less. The price was competitive. That’s about it.
Okay, on to the problems:
–I ended up having to pay a $ 45 parking ticket after they double-​parked on my new street. I told them to park in a driveway, but because a car was illegally parked and had its nose sticking about 4″ into the driveway, they refused. I attempted to negotiate this with their boss. Terry, but to no avail. In fact, I was a bit insulted when, while talking to Terry, he put me on hold to get the foreman’s side of the story (who then lied about the call). (Also, a big middle finger to the parking authority – the illegally parked car didn’t get a ticket, while we did.)
–While nice and otherwise professional, they used my CB2 desk (which has wheels) as a furniture dolly, scratching it up very badly. Their sh – y reimbursement policy is $.60/​lb of damaged merchandise. So, because my desk is lightweight, I’m getting reimbursed a whopping $ 30 for a $ 150 desk. If the desk had been the exact same size, but made of wood, I would have received more, even if the desk wasn’t worth as much.
This would be acceptable if the damage had been accidental, but this was pure negligence. I even mentioned to the foreman that the desk is easily scratched. So, maybe don’t use it as a tool in your move .? But because they use a third-​party claims service, there’s no argument.
Even if the competition is a little more expensive, bad business practices mean I simply won’t use them again.

I recently used Aviv to move from my 1br apt in Brookline, to a studio in Beacon Hill, and was very happy with the service. The three guys showed up on time and got right to work. Only the foreman spoke fluent English, but the other guys spoke enough to understand when I said, «yes, that should come» or «No that’s staying» etc. and they were all really friendly. The place I moved into was a 3^rd floor walk up and I had a lot of boxes of books and such, so it was NOT an easy move. By the end, they were drenched in sweat and looked exhausted, but they were still nice and got everything moved in one piece. There wasn’t any damage to anything, and the price I paid was completely reasonable.
It might depend which actual movers you get — the foreman did comment that he had a «good team» that day — but I would definitely recommend these guys.

Prompt communications, reliable with time and most importantly these fine guys were über-​careful with my treasures. The movers were efficient and get huge bonus points for being wicked nice and funny.

I used them for long distance move.
I have beed trying to contact them to get a delivery date, with no luck
First I was told that my stuff will arrive on wednesday, noone called. Then after I called I was told the truck will arrive friday or saturday. Both days passed with no luck. Then I was told it will arrive sunday.
and I still have not recieved it.
Maybe they are ok for local move, but stay away for long distance moves.